


vows...

by startswithhope



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Canon Compliant, Domestic Fluff, Episode: s04e09 The Olive Branch, Episode: s05e11 Meet the Parents, Falling In Love, Future Fic, Growing Old Together, Introspection, Light Angst, M/M, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon, wedding vows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 10:14:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30020199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/startswithhope/pseuds/startswithhope
Summary: Patrick, I've never liked a smile as much as I like yours. I've never felt as safe as I do when I'm with you. I've never known love like I have when we're together. It's not been an easy road for me, but knowing that you will always be there for me at the end of it makes everything okay. Patrick Brewer, you are my happy ending.
Relationships: Patrick Brewer/David Rose
Comments: 49
Kudos: 209





	vows...

**Author's Note:**

> This idea to write an exploration of David's wedding vows came out of nowhere and I just had to write it out. I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

**_Patrick, I’ve never liked a smile as much as I like yours._ **

He’s pretty sure he’s close to dying, either from soul-crushing embarrassment or from heat exhaustion thanks to this stupid fucking sweater. But he just keeps going. Keeps dancing and moving his lips along with the words, and oh my god, why is this song so long? Stopping, it’s just not an option. Not with Patrick sitting there, with that smile, that wall-crumbling, heart-stopping, butterfly-swarming perfect smile that’s stripped all of David’s defenses and left him hopelessly bare. Well, not physically, cause that would be preferable to this leather cage he’s found himself in, but figuratively, emotionally, all the ways that scare him and excite him in equal measure.

Patrick Brewer’s smile is like his eyes, open and vulnerable and unafraid of being big and expressive. And it’s a lot. And it’s sometimes too much. But it’s also helped David learn to be more open, too. Take risks, like this one. Even if this is something he will forbid either of them to mention ever again. 

He loves Patrick Brewer something fierce and even though the words haven’t been said, he knows Patrick knows. It’s in his smile. And in that smile, David knows how much he’s loved in return. And he’ll do whatever it takes, even this...well, maybe not this, not ever again, but he’ll do a lot if it means he gets to see that smile directed his way…

“Uuh, you’re the best.”

Relief at the song finally being over is eclipsed by a rush of anxiety as he watches Patrick push himself to his feet, that smile somehow widening as he reaches out and grabs the front of David’s sweater to haul him into a hug. As soon as those strong arms are holding him tight, David finds himself smiling just as wide, happy to finally be back where he belongs.

* * *

**_I’ve never felt as safe as I do when I’m with you._ **

Their eyes lock and even from across the room, David can feel the relief emanating from the man he loves and it makes David feel proud of Patrick and himself for somehow managing to navigate this really complicated day. He sends him a soft smile and is met with a nod of Patrick’s head as he gestures for David to join them at the table. 

And just like that, it’s like he’s gathered all of the nerves that Patrick has just let go of and stuffed them right behind his ribcage against his heart. This isn’t something he’s done, this meeting of the parents thing, not like this. His head snaps to the side as he feels strong hands give his hip a less than gentle shove to find Stevie, eyes full of entirely too much understanding.

“Go,” she silently mouths and that one word gets David’s feet moving, hands straightening his sweatshirt unnecessarily as he makes his way to Patrick’s side. As soon as he’s close, Patrick’s hand is there, clasping his fingers reassuringly and tugging David down next to him on the bench.

“I know you’ve already met, but,” Patrick starts to say, but is immediately interrupted by Marcy.

“Oh David, we’re just so happy for you both.”

There’s something about the combination of Patrick’s thumb softly caressing his hand under the table and that same earnestness he’s come to know so well from Patrick reflecting back at him from Marcy’s eyes that begins to round the jagged edges of David’s anxiety. And even though he has no idea what to say back to something like that, he gives it a try nonetheless.

“So am I.”

Patrick’s fingers tighten around his and David doesn’t dare look over, knowing he can’t handle whatever look Patrick is giving him right now, especially in front of his parents.

‘I want to hear everything. How did you meet? When did you realize…”

“Mom.”

“Marcy.”

“Oh goodness, I’m sorry. I just, Patrick is our everything and I can’t help but be curious about what’s led him here, with you, telling us he’s the happiest he’s ever been.”

He can’t not look at Patrick after hearing that. Patrick’s cheeks are ruddy and his mouth is scrunched a little with embarrassment, but his eyes are warm and communicating far more than they should given their present company.

“Oh really,” David teases, dragging their joined fingers into his lap and pressing the back of Patrick’s hand tight against his belly.

“You know how much I wanted a surprise party.”

David’s eyes go skyward and he hears Clint chuckling across the table and in that instant David realizes something that makes him sit up a little straighter and gives him the confidence to meet Clint’s eyes for a shared smile.

He’s not nervous anymore. They can do this, together.

* * *

**_I’ve never known love like I have when we’re together._ **

“I love that sound.”

“What sound?”

Patrick’s words are little more than a muffled rumble as he’s scrunched up against David’s chest, the heat of his breath sending a shiver of awareness fluttering across David’s skin.

“The soft thwack of the snowflakes hitting the window.”

Soft lips ghost a sleepy kiss into his collarbone and David curls into Patrick a little bit more, nesting his chin into his hair as he anchors his hand tighter around his neck. They’d worn each other out earlier after coming in from the storm outside, all flushed cheeks and sweating under their many layers, smiling into kisses as their clothes formed a wet puddle on the floor and they dragged each other towards Patrick's bed. That had been hours ago, but they’ve just been laying here together, making quiet conversation between comfortable silences. 

This isn’t something David’s ever had with anyone before - this comfort, this ease with which they’re able to just be. It’s in these moments, even more than the big, grand romantic gestures, that he feels the most loved. He feels it in the way Patrick’s breath warms his skin and the soft press of his fingers against the small of his back. He feels it in the way he can feel Patrick’s chuckle rumble beneath his chest from how close they are pressed and tickle of his too short hair as it brushes against his nose. And he hopes Patrick can feel it too, when he jokes about Patrick’s scratchy heels as he tangles their feet together beneath the sheet and when he says stupid shit just so he can hear Patrick laugh. 

“Let’s take a snow day tomorrow,” Patrick mumbles.

David smiles into Patrick’s hair at the so un Patrick-like suggestion and presses a kiss to the top of his head. 

“Can we stay in bed all day?”

“That’s what I had in mind.”

“I’ll have to check with the boss.”

“David.”

“The boss says yes.”

David draws in a quick breath as Patrick’s fingers slide down his back towards his ass and he lowers his head to drag the tip of his nose across David’s nipple. 

“Who says you’re the boss?” Patrick whispers, not giving David a chance to answer before drawing said nipple between wet lips. Knowing he’s not expecting an actual answer, David arches his back in response, not resisting even a little when Patrick’s hand grabs onto his hip and guides him over onto his back. As Patrick’s weight settles over him, he can see Patrick’s smile from the white of the snow outside the window illuminating the night and lifts his mouth up to meet his waiting kiss.

* * *

**_It’s not been an easy road for me...._**

Anthony. _Delete._ Brigitte. _Delete._ Derek. _Delete._ Fritz and Sarah. _Delete_ No, wait, he might want to...no... _delete_ . Isabella. _He has no idea who that is. Delete._

Blinking his eyes, he drops his phone on the couch and reaches for the nearly empty bottle of vodka on the coffee table. He’s got it halfway to his lips when his phone alights with an incoming text. Mild excitement flutters in his belly in hopes it’s someone interesting, but that’s short lived. It’s an alert from his bank questioning a series of charges on his credit card. He doesn’t need to be reminded of the bottle service he’d paid for just to watch all of his friends take off without as much as a wave goodbye, one of whom was there as his date. Grabbing his phone again, he swipes the alert away and scrolls to Pedro’s contact and hits delete. 

At this rate, the only people left in his phone will be his family and…

He must be really drunk, because before he can stop himself the sound of the phone ringing in his ear is making his headache throb.

“You’ve reached Alexis Rose, love that for you. Leave something cute at the beep.”

He should just hang up.

_Beep._

“It’s David. Just checking in to make sure you’re still alive. I...yeah...that’s all. I…”

He hangs up before he can finish that thought.

_I miss you._

Sliding his thumb up, he watches as his contacts scroll, ready to stop on someone, anyone he thinks might pick up.

He only makes it to the T’s before he’s leaning back against the couch and closing his eyes. It’s a little after 4am when he wakes up, back cracking loudly as he grabs a throw pillow and stretches out fully on the cushions. His phone falls to the floor as he grumbles himself back to sleep, hoping to dream about a better version of his life, where he has someone, someone he knows he can count on. 

When his phone rumbles on the hardwood with an incoming call from Alexis twenty minutes later, he’s already fast asleep.

  
  


* * *

**_...but knowing you will always be there for me at the end of it makes everything okay._ **

Tossing off his glove, he swipes the sweat pooling on his forehead with the back of his wrist before grabbing his phone and typing out a quick text.

**David: Can you help me for a second?**

**Patrick: Be right there.**

He moans a little as he drops his head back and stretches out his spine, cursing himself for leaning over for far too long. 

The back door opens and Patrick’s there in that horrendous baseball cap he wears on game days, smiling as he crosses towards David on the grass. The ice cubes are sloshing against the side of the glass of water he’s carrying, leaving a small puddle on the back of his hand, but he doesn’t seem to care. David just shakes his head and smiles, knowing the water is for him, the gesture so Patrick it makes David’s belly do a little swoop. Twenty two years in and David still finds new moments to fall in love with his husband all over again.

“Thanks,” David says as he takes the water, greedily gulping half of it down as Patrick’s hand curls affectionately around the back of his neck.

“Need me to take that bush out?”

“Yeah, if you can toss it in the wheelbarrow, I can drop the new one in.”

They work in absolute synergy for the next ten minutes, finishing the last of David’s landscaping project with Patrick on his hands and knees in the mulch on the other side of the new azalea bush, packing the soil over the roots as David does the same on his side. They’re both a mess when they're done, with mulch up to their elbows and grass staining the knees of Patrick’s favorite sweatpants, but he’s all smiles as he takes off his cap and wipes his sweat off on his bicep. David watches as the movement lifts his t-shirt and exposes Patrick’s belly and David smiles to himself as he thinks about their conversation in bed last week.

_“I need to start going to the gym again.”_

_Turning his head, David rests his cheek into the soft cushion of Patrick’s belly and gives Patrick a look._

_“No you don’t.”_

_“I’m not fitting into my favorite jeans anymore.”_

_“Thank god.”_

_Patrick’s favorite jeans and David’s favorite of Patrick’s jeans are very different garments._

_“What?”_

_“They’d make good kindling for the firepit, that’s all I’m saying.”_

_Patrick’s hand reaches down to playfully tug at David’s hair and he turns his face further into Patrick’s skin, trapping the soft hair there between his lips and tugging right back._

_“Ow!”_

_“Don’t talk about taking this belly away and I’ll stop.”_

_“Only if you agree to stop dying your hair. I love the gray.”_

_“You’re out of your mind.”_

_“It’s a compromise, David. Remember that word.”_

_“I want a divorce.”_

_“Nope, you can’t have one.”_

_“Fine. See, I can compromise.”_

_Before Patrick can retort, David presses a series of more purposeful kisses around his belly button and the hand in his hair tightens a lot less playfully. David spends the next hour showing Patrick just how much he loves his husband’s body, just the way it is._

“Ready for some lunch?”

Pulling himself from his very pleasurable memories, David looks over to find Patrick waiting for him with an outstretched, very dirty hand. Taking it, he falls into step beside him as they walk together back towards the house.

“Don’t you want to get back to your game?”

“I’m recording it.”

“So, you’re planning to torture me by watching the rest of it in bed tonight.”

“Exactly.”

David grumbles as he turns on the faucet of their outdoor sink, but then Patrick is just there, pressing into his back and chuckling under his breath as he presses tiny kisses into David’s sweat-slicked neck. They wash their hands together, just like this, getting soap up to their elbows as David pretends to be annoyed and Patrick pretends to be annoying. 

They end up eating sandwiches for lunch in their boxer briefs as their wet and dirty clothes dry draped over their patio chairs and the old rescue dog they adopted eight years ago sleeps on the floor in the sunlight streaming in from the glass door. He’s lived in this life with Patrick for so long now that he sometimes takes the things he has for granted, but in this moment, smiling into fresh bread from one of their vendors with his husband’s hip pressing close to his as they lean against their counter, it all comes rushing in and he finds himself in need of a steadying breath. He has everything he needs and more than he ever imagined he’d find.

**_Patrick Brewer, you are my happy ending._ **


End file.
